Psychology & Neuroscience Programs

The La Sierra Advantage

There are many advantages in taking classes at La Sierra University. Some include:

Our graduates are highly competitive for admission to graduate school and post-bachelor’s positions where psychology is the preferred undergraduate degree.

Several courses include hands-on lab experience.

More than 100 of our students have already been inducted into the La Sierra chapter of Psi Chi, the national honor society for psychology students.

All of the full-time faculty members have earned their doctoral degrees, and two are licensed clinical psychologists.

Why Study Psychology?

What makes people act the way they do? How do brain function and behavior go together? How do we react to our environment and how do we shape it? Psychologists pursue answers to these questions using careful observation, experiments, and analysis. What they discover helps those who practice psychology work more effectively with their clients and patients. Psychology is a varied field leading to career opportunities in health services, business, education, research and more. Many of our graduates go to medical or dental school, or they take a graduate program in counseling or clinical psychology.

Psychology Undergraduate Programs

Psychology Bachelor of Arts

The Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology provides a rigorous foundation based on both the science and application of psychology. The department is also large enough to allow students to tailor their program to their own interests. This way, students are able to choose emphases in personality, abnormal psychology, forensic, political, health, or sports psychology, learning, development, counseling, and many other aspects of the field. Students earning a bachelor’s degree from La Sierra will be trained to think like psychologists. They will demonstrate the empirical habits, mastery of knowledge, and practical research skills that will make them competitive applicants for top graduate programs and jobs requiring strong analytical, information literacy, and communication skills.

The Bachelor of Science degree in neuroscience is housed within the department of psychology but is distinctly interdisciplinary. Required courses are taught by faculty in both psychology and biology departments. It emphasizes the biological correlates of behavior, and it is designed for students who plan to go on to postgraduate work or go into the professional application of the health sciences. The program trains students to think like neuroscientists, that is demonstrating the empirical habits, mastery of knowledge, and practical research skills that will make them competitive applicants for top graduate programs in neuroscience and applied fields such as medicine, pharmacy, and neuropsychology. For more information contact Psychology Department.

Fast Facts Psychology Program

Fast Facts Neuroscience Program

Psychology Honors

The Psychology Department Honors is designed for highly-qualified students who wish to further their research experience in psychology. Students who complete the program must be members of Psi Chi, the national honor society in psychology; graduate with a 3.5 GPA; do an original research project under the supervision of the Psychology Department faculty, and present their research in a public forum approved by the department faculty.

The one thing I appreciate the most of the La Sierra University Psychology Department is the close relationships we the students had with our professors. At a big University some classes may have 300 students and are taught by graduate students, but here at La Sierra University I’ve never had a class with more than 40 students and all were taught by our professors. The professors make it their number one priority to communicate with the students and let us know that we are always welcomed in their offices. I feel like the professors really care about us and our future.

MARY NAJERA – PSYCHOLOGY GRADUATE – 2011

Undergraduate Research

The Psychology Department believes deeply in the importance of undergraduate research and its curriculum fosters the development of empirical skills. In addition, interested students are encouraged to become actively involved in independent faculty-mentored research projects.

The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind.

First-year students meet with their academic coach/advisor each week for their first two quarters. Then they are assigned an advisor from their major department who will help them choose the classes they need to complete their program.

A lot of learning takes place outside of the classroom. The Division of Student Life is headquarters for student government, activities, organizations, spiritual life, and much more to enhance your college experience.

Career Center

We want you to find a good job after you finish your degree at La Sierra. A new Career Center, located in the Zapara School of Business, is expected to open before the end of fall quarter.

All undergraduate students at La Sierra University participate in a comprehensive general education curriculum called University Studies, which is rooted in the concept of liberal education as a formative and transformative process. University Studies offers an integrated curriculum that:

stimulates the meaning-centered development of its students.

familiarizes students with the various academic disciplines.

exposes students to intercultural, international and inter-ethnic concerns.

encourages students to recognize the importance of developing a personal value system to distinguish between right and wrong.